Have you ever been to a good improv show? Like one where your sides hurt from non-stop belly laughter and you find yourself becoming increasingly astounded and somewhat jealous of how a group of performers can be so effortlessly quick and funny? As it turns out, the art of improv only looks effortless and requires its own unique set of skills that often take years of classes, practice and performing a lot of not funny shows to get to that highest level.
I was lucky enough to live in Los Angeles in the early 2010s when comedy was going through perhaps its last great renaissance. Shows like The Office, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Community, New Girl, It’s Always Sunny…, Workaholics, Key and Peele (seriously, these were all on the air at the same time) ruled the airwaves. At night, the same people responsible for starring in, writing, and directing those shows would descend onto the many improv theaters in town to perform… for free. For these creative folk, improv shows were not about money, it was something that they seemingly enjoyed and found great benefit from in their other creative endeavors.
So, as someone who watched many of these hilarious improv shows and even took a few classes himself, let me tell you what these skills honed in improv are and how they can apply to video production?
The Magic of a One-Word Prompt
In improv shows, a single word is often tossed out to the performers, and from that one word, they create an entire world. It could be “cloud,” “ocean,” “ham sandwich,”—no matter how abstract or specific the word is, it opens the door to endless creative possibilities and perspectives. Our brains are wired to react to prompts, especially when there are no clear guidelines. A one-word prompt allows our imagination to go wild and gives your audience something to latch onto allowing them to follow the story’s progression with a sense of curiosity. Start simple and build. Your audience is with you from the get-go.
For video producers, our one word prompt is often the very thing we are trying to promote. So using that as the starting point, where can our imaginations take us? As a storyteller, give your story the room to venture off course and give your audience something perhaps a little unexpected to engage with. Sometimes, the best moments of content emerge from letting go of tight structures and allowing the story to take its shape.
Emotional Relevance
One of the core principles of improv is emotional truth. To make a scene feel real, performers must tap into their own emotions, experiences, and responses. Your real-life experiences, whether big or small, offer a vast resource of reactions, thoughts, and behaviors that can inform the characters and situations you create in improv. The more you embrace your own history, the more nuanced and genuine your improv work will be.
Great stories rest on some kind of truth from a personal experience, and as humans, we actually share or have very similar versions of those experiences. When writing or crafting your story, invite as many people as possible to read your early concept or outline. Pitch your idea to your family members and friends. When you tell your story over and over again, a few things will happen:
- First, your concept will sharpen. Having your idea easily, and clearly communicable, will make coordination between your production departments seamless.
- Second, telling your story will give you a small sample size to see what your audience is responding and relating to. Steer towards the things that people engage with the strongest. Those are the moments your audience will take with them.
Unlocking Unlikely Connections
Improv doesn’t just allow for creative ideas to bloom—it pushes performers to make connections that wouldn’t normally exist. For example, if the one word prompt is “cloud,” one actor might associate it with the Charmin toilet paper cloud man, while another might think of the cigarette smoke of a dark jazz club in the 1920s. A hilarious scene involving both of those things is about to be born. As a video producer, you can use this kind of thinking to break away from conventional tropes and make unique connections in your work. This is again where collaboration needs to become a key part of your creative process. Different viewpoints can bring interesting and unexpected connections, triggering a cascade of ideas, each of them leading to a fresh approach to character relationships, themes, or visuals. This is an exciting tool for producers because it opens up a world of possibilities, enabling you to create narratives that stand out from the crowd.
In Conclusion: The Unexpected Power of a Single Word
Improv, at its core, is a celebration of creativity, spontaneity, and collaboration—all essential elements of great storytelling. After producing several hundred videos over the last 15 years, I’ve learned to embrace the unexpected. Whether I’m creating a commercial, a short film, or even a branded video, I know that sometimes the best stories come from letting go of the script, trusting in the process, and seeing where a single word can take me. It’s a journey of creative discovery that brings energy, authenticity, and a touch of the unexpected to every project, and just like in improv, the best results come from performing with a seasoned and well-oiled team.
Written by Kris Wood, Sr. Creative Producer at Odyssey Studios